To suggest that separation remain among genders in this day in age is surely antiquated—laughable, even—and yet, every January and February, we buckle down for awards season and see the categories for film and TV nominees flash on our television screens: "Best Actress," "Best Supporting Actor," etc. Why the separation in year 2014, for crying out loud? Well, it seems that there actually is a case for it, and it's a very viable one.

Recently, the New York Film Academy gathered research to build a very eye-opening infographic that illustrates the industry's rampant inequality. Did you know that while ladies purchase half of the movie tickets sold in the U.S., only 30% of speaking parts in films are female? Or that a third of female speaking characters are shown in sexually revealing attire or are partially naked? The highest paid actresses in Hollywood (topping out at Angelina Jolie's $33 million) still earn far less than male actors (Robert Downey Jr. made $75 million in 2013). And of the 16 biggest single-film paychecks last year, not a single one was earned by a woman.

It's hard to believe all this, especially when you consider such female acting power players as Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren—the list goes on and on. Women in film are a force to be reckoned with. Need proof? Look no further than our incredibly talented and intelligent Women in Hollywood, below.

The problem pervades executive rungs as well: A 5:1 ratio of males to females working behind the camera has been reported. Of the top films in 2012, 91% of directors, 85% of writers, 83% of executive producers, and 98% of cinematographers were male. The only other non-segregated category that showed evidence of female domination was, somewhat predictably, costume design.

So how does this correlate with the gender-labeled categories we see during awards season? Since the industry is so biased, it's the only way to ensure that the awards are balanced for the public eye. It's a bit misleading, but we'd rather see the smaller percentage of kick ass women get the recognition they deserve. In most other contexts, this kind of separation would not fly, but in this case, it's justified.